2053.02 Nine Notes 01: Kicking the Tires

[Trebro]

Nine Notes from the Manager's Desk

1. It feels really good to be back stateside and working for a top team again. Sure the circumstances are a bit odd (you can't say I was lighting the world on fire in London), but the opportunity here in Yellow Springs is awesome. The team definitely underachieved in 2052 and with the exception of a few positions, there are no glaring holes. As I said in the press conference, the young pitching is there. And if they can make the jump from Indianapolis to the majors, that gives us time to use "good pitcher" level money elsewhere.

2. I didn't make many changes to the staff up and down the organization, as I want to see them with my own eyes first. I did add Don Hyland to our AA team as hitting coach. Don had done a soft retirement, last coaching in 2051, and he has some reputation issues. But I look at his success and winning culture, and that's what I want to build from. Plus he's apparently good with younger players, despite his age. I also let Ken Jenkins go (too much money for a return to the Nine, and one can't say he's done great work as the team regressed). Haven't found a replacement yet, but I'm working on it. I also snagged Wayne Myers from our rival Nashville as our bench coach. Cannot believe they made that change, but I'm happy for it. Other changes included some minor league managers, mostly to again encourage a culture of winning from top to bottom.

3. I hated to let Ricardo Rivera go, but there's no place in a salary cap world for a pitcher you can't be 100 percent sure is at least 90 percent healthy. He's of course going to Louisville, because that's a great way to start hearing it from fans about my poor personnel decisions but I wasn't about to pay 8 million (over half my remaining funds, see below) on an uncertain arm. That's for teams with space. Jerry Bourque and Roberto Ramirez didn't even want to talk to me. I wish them the best of luck. Dead weight, like Loan Duval, were shown the door, no matter how popular.

4. After so much losing in London, going 4-0 to "start" here in Yellow Spring was an unexpectedly good feeling that I'm hoping will help springboard the team, which looks to be largely remaining intact, into 2053. That included a sweep of Twin Cities, who made it to the Cartwright. It wasn't against their top starting pitchers, mind you, but the sweep and the seven-game winning streak to end 2052 is nothing to sneeze at and certainly beats the alternative, which I'm intimately familiar with.

5. Why does no one want the manager job in Santa Cruz? I'm offering top dollar. John Funk, Fernando Agular, and now Armondo Alvarado all said no. I'll keep trying. Might need to move someone internally into the job, which I'd rather not do, but I have to get my staff in place.

6. Reece Newsome, Alejandro Morin, and Benjamin Broadbent move to the 40 man. Broadbent is the only one from AA to make the move, which speaks to the following two things: A) Our minors isn't where I want it to be in terms of quality and B) we are likely going to get picked off pretty heavily at the Rule 5 draft. I toyed with leaving a roster spot open to be a player, but I'd rather keep my own – for now.

7. There's a definite potential roster crunch coming in 2053 as a fair number of players are finishing their last option years. Evaluation is going to be key, and also watching which teams might need a 6th starter or extra outfielder to flip them for potential prospects.

8. Dong-Po Thum's role and importance to the Nine can't be understated. But his massive, growing larger contract is going to be something I have to deal with. Trading him would require parting with other top talent and signal a rebuild. That's something this city hasn't really ever had to deal with, and I'm not sure I want to, either. There's a chance he's been asked to carry too much of the load and more frequent rest can get him back to a star form. On the other hand, perhaps he's just lost his touch and there's 85 million reasons to be out from under his contract. Thum seems like he wants to retire a Niner. The fans definitely do. We'll see how this goes.

9. Assuming I keep Thum, I have about 15 million to spend. The big question now is go all-in on one position and really rock that spot, or spread things around a little bit and make some incremental improvements. With a salary cap in play, these kinds of decisions are a lot harder than I'm used to. For now, I'm content to see how the first few weeks of free agency play out, because we (literally) can't afford another Thum.

[Dington]

Tbh, not sure what bench coach role really is, so didn’t wanna pay him. I’m too cheap.

[Trebro]

Tbh, not sure what bench coach role really is, so didn’t wanna pay him. I’m too cheap.

LOL!

He's already sharing your team's darkest secrets with me. Good Lord, man. I'm going to need therapy.

[Dington]

Tbh, not sure what bench coach role really is, so didn’t wanna pay him. I’m too cheap.

LOL!

He's already sharing your team's darkest secrets with me. Good Lord, man. I'm going to need therapy.

No surprises. Yellow Springs has always been full of spies.

[Trebro]

Tbh, not sure what bench coach role really is, so didn’t wanna pay him. I’m too cheap.

LOL!

He's already sharing your team's darkest secrets with me. Good Lord, man. I'm going to need therapy.

No surprises. Yellow Springs has always been full of spies.

How do you think we make all our money? It's sure not on that $1.50 hot dog and drink combo that Ron had in place and said would never change as long as he was in charge.